Re: unable to install anything

[Curtis Vaughan <curtis@npc-usa.com>]

On 02 Aug, 2004, at 16:07, Zaq Rizer wrote:

> Curtis Vaughan wrote:
>
> > On 02 Aug, 2004, at 13:59, Zachary Rizer wrote:
> >
> > > --- Curtis Vaughan <curtis@npc-usa.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Whenever I try to install any package or update, I
> > > > get an error,
> > > > details of which are provided below.
> > > > This is just an example of the point at which an
> > > > upgrade terminates.
> > > >
> > > > > Preparing to replace base-files 3.0.16 (using
> > > > > .../base-files_3.1_i386.deb) ...
> > > > > dpkg: error processing
> > > >
> > > > /var/cache/apt/archives/base-files_3.1_i386.deb
> > > >
> > > > > (--unpack):
> > > > >  fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
> > > > > dpkg: error while cleaning up:
> > > > >  fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
> > > > > dpkg: error while cleaning up:
> > > > >  fork failed: Cannot allocate memory
> > > > > Errors were encountered while processing:
> > > > >  /var/cache/apt/archives/base-files_3.1_i386.deb
> > > > > Processing was halted because there were too many
> > > >
> > > > errors.
> > > >
> > > > > E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error
> > > >
> > > > code (1)
> > > >
> > > > Any ideas what's up and how to fix it?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Curtis Vaughan
> > > >
> > > > WashTech (CWA Local 37083)
> > > >
> > > > Computer Hacks
> > > > http://sojourner.homelinux.net/hacks/index.html
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to
> > > > debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
> > > > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact
> > > > listmaster@lists.debian.org
> > >
> > > It's exactly what it says it is: You're out of memory.
> > I don't think that's possible:
> >
> > Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
> > /dev/hda2              37G   23G   12G  66% /
> > proc                     0     0     0   -  /proc
> > sysfs                    0     0     0   -  /sys
> > devpts                   0     0     0   -  /dev/pts
> > tmpfs                  59M     0   59M   0% /dev/shm
> > /dev/hdb1              37G   23G   13G  66% /music
> >
> > Curtis Vaughan
> No...I said "memory".  Memory != Storage.
> Memory is RAM, not hard drive space.
> Try 'free -m', instead of 'df -h'.
>
> Regards,
> Zaq

Oh, man! Here's my output of 'free -m':

Mem:           116        112          4          0          1         
35
-/+ buffers/cache:         75         41
Swap:            0          0          0

and here's what 'top' shows:

Mem:    119048k total,   115540k used,     3508k free,     1896k buffers
Swap:        0k total,        0k used,        0k free,    35804k cached

Why don't I have any swap memory?

Curtis